2010-11 Louisville Basketball Year End Recap: Peyton Siva

The recaps roll on and today, we take a look at the sophomore season of Seattle’s favorite son, Peyton Siva.

The Numbers

After playing only 11 minutes per game as a freshman while behind the great Edgar Sosa, we only saw flashes of what Peyton Siva was capable of. Once Sosa departed, the reins of the offense were given to Peyton and if you look at the numbers, he did extremely well.

Moving into the starting lineup, Siva’s minutes jumped from 11 to 27.9 per game. He scored 9.9 ppg on 44.5% shooting from the floor. His three point percentage curiously dropped by 13% to a marginal 27% on the year. I say curiously because I don’t recall him taking hardly any poor shots from deep, unless it was a last second shot clock heave. Peyton’s foul shooting actually improved from 61% to 68%, but that is still too low for my liking, particularly for a point guard.

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Outside of scoring, Peyton grabbed 3.1 rebounds per game and averaged a superb 5.2 assists per game. However, he did also turn the ball over 2.9 times per game, which resulted in a 1.80 assist-to-turnover ratio. A 1.80 A/T is not horrible, in fact it’s above average, but for Peyton to become the player many of us think he can, he’ll need to cut down on the turnovers. Siva also accounted for 2 steals per game, which was good for 69 on the season.

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When you look at the numbers as a whole, then add the fact he went from playing a total of 349 minutes as a backup to 975 as a starter, I think we call all agree Peyton had a fine year. Not sensational, not spectacular, but pretty solid.

Oh, and earlier when I said the ‘great’ Edgar Sosa, I actually meant eternally frustrating.

High Point

Peyton had several really solid games and there were probably four or five that would be good choices for his high point, but I’ll go with his performance against UConn in the Cards’ double overtime win in Storrs. Peyton knifed through the Huskies’ defense at will the entire game and hit all the clutch shots down the stretch. He finished with 19 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals, while thoroughly outplaying UConn’s Kemba Walker.

Low Point

I hate having to go back to this for this category, but the Morehead State game was just bad. Peyton scored only 3 points, on 1-6 shooting from the floor, had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 turnvoers. To make things worse, he fouled out on one of the most boneheaded reach ins I can ever remember by someone playing with 4 fouls. For as strong of a season as he had, he did not end it on a good note.

2011-12 Outlook

First and foremost, Peyton must improve his foul shooting. As the point guard, he will have the ball in his hands more than anyone and combined with the fact he is so adept at getting into the lane and drawing contact, he will be going to the line a lot. He must knock down his free throws at a better clip than 68%.

Ideally, you’d love to have him at 100%. Realistically, 80% would be very good, but I’ll take 75% for next year. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. THEY’RE FREE!!! NO ONE’S ALLOWED TO GUARD YOU!!! IF THEY GUARD YOU, YOU GET TO SHOOT IT AGAIN!!! MAKE THE DAMN SHOT!!!

Next, Peyton must cut down on his turnovers. Personally, I did not have as much of a problem with some of his more “creative” pass attempts because it was his first full season as starting point guard and I believe you let the player play his style of game as long as he is not a selfish player. Peyton is not selfish and his teammates love playing with him, so if he chooses to make a behind the back pass every now and then, it doesn’t bother me.

However, Peyton needs to understand when those attempts can be made and when it’s time for a fundamentally sound bounce pass. There were times he went for the Sportscenter Top 10 highlight when he just needed to make the simple play. Not coincidentally, those instances resulted in turnovers. He needs to eliminate those plays from his game.

As I said earlier, I think Peyton had a fine year and am really excited about his future. I think he made big strides this past season and with the talent infusion starting next year, we could be in for a lot of fun with Peyton Siva at the helm.